The Republican establishment has decided they don't want any part of conservatism, and this is really not new. People surprise to hear this. But the republican party formative event of conservativism is Goldwater's landslide defeat. That's what they think of when they think "conservative". They don't think Reagan. They think Goldwater. They believe what the inside-the-Beltway philosophy is about conservatives: they're racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe, Southern hayseed hicks. They're pro-lifers, they're embarrassing to have to go to convention with them, and they're just embarrassed to have those kind of people in the party.

On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren, Fox News, 15 December 2011, quoted in "Rush Limbaugh Blasts GOP's 2012 Strategy (Video)", Huffington Post, 15 December 2011, retrieved on 2011-12-16